Saturday, March 19, 2011

The face of V.H. Fine held a very sadistic expression. He glared at Edison, grinning mockingly. “I imagine about now, you wish to see your fiancée?” Edison’s body was still flying forward. “I want to know what your purpose of holding her is! She has done nothing wrong!” he shouted. V.H. Fine gave him an even bigger smile, this time showing his teeth. “As you wish…” he said. The image of his head faded into a patch of grey fog, which then showed a room with walls made out of shining purple glass. Two men in long green robes stood with their backs facing Edison. They were waving their arms back and forth. “Do you think she will make it through this?” One of the men asked. “Worry not,” the other man responded, “Once she is completed with the hypnotism phase, she will forever be loyal to Master Fine.” Edison halted and his body lowered onto a platform that was constantly changing colors. He stood and absorbed what he was hearing, and he attempted to run in the direction of the two men. Unfortunately, he was unable to move his body properly. He felt as if his body was being pushed down to the ground. “Who are you two? What are you doing!?” he bellowed. The men did not answer him. They continued to wave their hands. Eventually, one of the men stepped to the side, revealing what was in front of them. Once Edison got a clear view of what it was, he became lightheaded and his heart beat so rapidly that it felt like it would burst. He fell to the ground and landed on his knees, trying to keep his head propped up. Tears were spilling out of his eyes and landing on the platform. Only faint whispers could slip from his mouth. “Angelica…”

Lying on a circular pedestal in the room was Angelica, her arms crossed against her chest in stillness. Her appearance had altered drastically, which both saddened and scared Edison. Her eyes were no longer the vibrant color of blue that Edison once remembered. Instead, her pupils were now jet black. On her cheeks were strange symbolic markings made out of brown ink, and her lips sparkled with purple gloss. She wore a long pink dress that had designs of two black crow heads. One was on the left side of her dress with its head facing to the right, while the other one was on the right side, its head pointing to the left. “Angelica!” shouted Edison repeatedly, tears streaming down his face. “Angelica, I’m finally here! I’m here to rescue you!” There was no response. The two men were still standing at the side with their backs turned, and Angelica remained on the pedestal motionless. “What are they doing to you? Who are they?” he screamed in terror. No response. Edison tried to move his right leg forward, and found that nothing was holding him down this time. He ran in the direction of the room and attempted to jump inside of it. Unfortunately, he could not. Just as he almost flew right into the room, his body slammed up against an invisible wall, knocking him backwards. He then tried his best to place his left foot inside of the room, but something was definitely blocking the way. Suddenly, the glowing platform beneath Edison’s feet diminished. The dream realm he stood in began to shake violently. He then started to fall into a darkened hole that shone a white light. He shut his eyes tightly, and couldn’t even hear the sound of his own screaming.

Very briefly, his eyes opened, and he saw black and white images of his childhood. He could see himself as a young child, his parents holding both his hands and walking him down a path in Hollowmill. He then saw himself meeting Angelica for the very first time at the Bazaar, amongst many other images. He shut his eyes again and fell deeper into the hole, until he eventually landed on his back quite forcefully. His eyes remained closed, and the rest of his body stayed completely still. The feelings of both his legs were lost temporarily. Although he was injured, he managed to retain consciousness. Ever so slowly, he moved the fingers on his right hand, being able to do so with ease. No invisible forces held them down. The feelings of his legs started to return, so he tried to move his right foot, and again could do so without any difficulty whatsoever. Nervous at first, he carefully opened his eyes and saw nothing but grey clouds, followed by a quick flash of lightning. He propped his head up, which sent a sharp wave of pain down his back. While he was still lying down, he took a minute to gaze around at his new environment.

Edison had awakened in a large open field. Straight ahead of him was the building from his dream, the Temple of Imbroglio. All around him, everything appeared to be exactly the same, only this time the entire area was colored. Most of the grass looked like it was dead, as pieces of it lay everywhere, and were the color beige. Very few trees stood in the field, as a lot of them were cut down, leaving only stumps. Grey clouds filled the sky entirely, with flashes of lightning striking every so often. Cautiously, Edison got himself up from off the ground, and dusted the dirt and grass off his clothes. After a few arm stretches and a full rotation of his neck, he set off towards the temple.